Oil heater



Aug. 4, 1925. 1,548,343 I J. E. BELL OIL HEATER Fi July 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOH ML (5 0% Aug. 4, 1925. 1,548,343

J. E. BELL OIL HEATER Fil y 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 jiqz T @%M (21 W ZZZ BY i m/ f2 Q y M W I mmv Patented Aug. 4, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN E. BELL, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO POWER SPECIALTY COM- PANY, OF NEW YORK, E. Y., A CORPORATION 01 NEW YORK.

OIL HEATER.

Application filed m 3,

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, JOHN E. BELL, a citizen of the United States,'residing at Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oil Heaters, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

In an application filed by me on June 10, 1920, Serial No. 387,970, I have shown oil heaters in which the heating chamber was divided into a forward and a rear compartment by a bridge'wall, and in which there are arranged two banks or groups of pipes or tubes for conveying the oil. One of these banks is placed in the compartment more remote from the fire, and the other and smaller bank in the upper part of the other compartment.

The cold oil is introduced into the first name-dbank at the bottom and flows upwardly through its tubes in a direction counter to the current of hot gases which flow over the bridge-wall and downward in the remote compartment on their way to the flue. 'This bank of tubes .is connected in series with the other, preferably to the bottom of the same, as the oil -on reaching such second bank is at a temperature which renders it unnecessary to cause it to flow through said bank counter to the flow of the hot gases which sweep its tubes.

Upon this general type or form of heater the invention, sub ect ofmy present application, is an improvement. It is an improvement in the following particular.

It is desirable that the tubes of both I banks should extend horizontally in as great lengths as possible, but the ordinary plan of construction prohibits the use of very long lengths of tube, by reason of the difficulty of properly supporting the same and preventing them from sagging. This defeet I remedy by building in both chambers transverse bridge walls which afford central supports for the blanks. I further provide' for the independent support of the horizontal rows or layers of tubes by supporting cantilever bars or rods embedded in one wall of the compartment and forming what may be regarded as shelf supports for said rows of tubes.

It is also desirable that the flow of oil through theheatershould be slow and not as rapid as it would ordinarily be if forced 1920. Serial 1Y0. 393,901.-

through the tubes in series, and it is further more desirable that its path through the heat absorbing tubes should be as long as practical conditions will permit. For this purpose, I divide the banks into two main paths in parallel, each path having all of its tubes connected in series, and each series being connected to the source of supply from which the oil is delivered under the proper pressure.

These are the main features of novelty of the invention, and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a section "of the structure embodying the invention on-the line 1-1 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 2 is a similar but broken section of the same on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

The structure, as a whole, is built in the known manner with heat-resisting and, preferably, heat-insulated walls 1. The heating chamber is divided into forward and rear compartments 2, 3, by a bridge wall 4, and in the lower part of the forward compartment is the fire box or furnace of any suitable character.

Centrally in the forward compartment is built up a wall 5, of refractory material, and centrally in the other compartment is built another but much lower wall 6.

Upon the wall 5 is supported a bank of tubes 7, and upon the wall 6 is similarly supported a bank of tubes 8. The tubes in these banks, as shown in Fig. 2, are much longer than usual, but the support afforded by the Walls 5 and 6 effectually prevents sagging.

As an additional support for the tubes of each bank, rectangular rods of cast iron or other suitable material 9 are embedded in the side walls of the furnace at three or more points, the said rods being preferably in vertical rows and extending out under all of the horizontal rows of oil tubes, as shown in Fig. 1. I prefer to employ tubes, encased in cast iron rings, and commonly known as Foster elements, but where the rods 9 contact with said tubes the rings are omitted, and this is indicated in the drawings.

These rods form shelves upon which the horizontal rows of tubes rest. The lowermost rods may rest upon the supporting walls 5 and 6, as shown, and this affords additional and firm support. The rods not only prevent sagging, but permit any one or more horizontal rows of tubes to be removed bodily, when necessary for repair or other reasons, without disturbing any'of the other rows in the bank because the rods constitute shelves which aid in the support of the horizontal rows of tubes, and if any row of such tubes be removed these supports may be strengthened by interposed blocks.

Removal of a tube in a bank or a number of tubes in a particular horizontal bank is effected as follows: Upon ascertaining that a articular tube is to be removed the headeig of this tube are first cut off. The rods 9 are primarily supported at one end in the brickwork 1 ,of the furnace and their ends extend into the insulating packing material marked 1 in Fig. 1. Covering this insulating packing material is a door designated 14: (see also dotted line rectangles 1n Fig. 2). Before or after the header is cut off the doors 14 are removed and the packing material is dug away from around the end of the particular rod 9 which is below the tube or tubes which are to be removed. Rod 9 is then drawn out (i. e. to the right in Fig. 1).. The tube is now ready for removal except that inasmuch as the corrugations of one tube overlap the next superimposed rod 9 it is necessary that the tube which is to be removed be lowered before such removal is effected. To effect such preliminary lowering of the tube 'the end plates 15 which are of the usual square recta gular construction slidably mounted upon ach tube are slid endwise out of cooperation with the cooperating lower rectangular plates. This permits the selected tube to be lowered bodily to a sufficient extent to clear it from interference with the next higher-rod 9. The whole tube assembly can then be redrawn endwise out of the tube chamber.

Each horizontal row of tubes in the present case is shown as composed of six elements, an arbitrary but convenient number, and the entire bank in each compartment is divided into two sets or groups of tubes. The tubes in each half or group are connected together in series, while each group of tubes is connected with the pipe or header that introduces the oil in multiple. In the present case the two sets of tubes in the bank 8 are connected to the inlet pipe 10 at the bottom of the bank and the two sets of tubes in the bank 7 are connected with the pipe 11 that leads from the top of the first named bank. At the top of bank 7, the two sets of tubes are connected to the outlet pipe 12.

By this arrangement t e capacity of the passage for oil through the device is very largely increased, which results in a reduction in the rate of flow. But as the tubes of each set are connected in series, one with another, a relatively long path for the oil is provided.

In other-respects than those herein noted, the construction of the device is largely immaterial. The arrangement described is highly efficient and has to recommend it its great simplicity and the means which it affords for easy access to the tubes or elements for removal, if need be.

What I claim is:

1. In an oil heater, the combination with heating chambers, of banks of tubes in long horizontal lengths therein, bridge walls built transversely in said chambers upon which, as substantially central supports, the lower tubes of said banks rest, and means independent of said bridge walls for independently supporting all of the upper sets of tubes above said transverse walls to prevent sagging of the same when highly,

heated.

2. In an oil heater, the combination with banks of tubes in long horizontal lengths of supporting cantilever rods extending transversely relative to the said tubes and forming shelf supports for the individual horizontal rows of such tubes, said rods being embedded in and projecting from one of the side walls of the chamber.

3. In an oil heater, the combination with a heating chamber divided by a bridge wall into a forward and a rear compartment, a bank of long horizontal tubes in each compartment, transverse bridge walls in each compartment forming central supports for said banks of tubes, and cantilever rods or bars embedded in the front and rear walls of the two parts of the chamber respectively and extending toward thefirst mentioned bridge wall transversely of the tubes and forming shelf-supports for the individual horizontal rows of the tubes of each bank.

4. In an oil heater, the combination with banks of tubes in long horizontal lengths with headers at their ends, of rods supported at one end only in the wall of the furnace and projecting therethrough so as to be removable from without the furnace, said rods each forming a shelf-like support for a bank of the tubes and adapted upon removal to permit the endwise removal of said bank of tubes or the removal of any tube unit thereof.

In testimony whereof I hereto afiix my signature.

JOHN E. BELL. 

